tennis gut

  Thirteen Roland Garros titles.   Unbelievable.   Can anyone stop the ageless Nadal?   First Quarter Never before have all the Big Three of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic been in the same half of a slam draw. It’s a golden opportunity for their young rivals to go deep.   Roger Federer (seeded 8) has played only three matches this year, winning only one of them.   He’s been recovering from knee surgery in 2020.   He could easily go out in the first round. But despite the rust, if he feels confident in the leg, he could still make a deepish run.   He could get a test in the second round from Cilic, or in the fourth from Berrettini.   He’s made it clear that his priority is Wimbledon and that anyone picking him to win the French is crazy. Matteo Berrettini (9) won the clay 250 in Belgrade and made the 1000 final in Madrid.   He’s showing that his fine form of 2019 was not a fluke.   His compatriot young-gun Italian, Lorenzo ...

  It’s a banquet.   We’ve had nine different winners at the nine clay events since Miami.   While there are only five slam champs in the men’s draw at this French Open, there are 14 in the women’s.   Ashleigh Barty has proven a worthy #1 with three titles this year. Naomi Osaka has gone from looking unbeatable on hard to rather vincible on clay.   Sabalenka has taken leaps forward. With perennial clay favourite Simona Halep out with a calf injury, how have the divas of the WTA landed in the Paris draw, and who is likely to triumph?   First Quarter Coco Gauff is coming into the potential that we all started to see three years ago.   She’s still only 17 years old and figuring out how to be a pro and get the most out of her game.   Her tennis IQ is maturing, getting control of her serve, making better shot selections, and harnessing her footspeed and hand skills.   She just took the title in Parma and looks like a bona fide threat on c...